South Africa’s first snakebite symposium held in Mbombela

The snakebite symposium welcomed 21 expert panel speakers and was the first of its kind in the country.

August 7, 2022

Chelsea Pieterse 1 minute read

The symposium had a large turnout and was deemed a success.

South Africa’s first-ever snakebite symposium was held in Mbombela at the Capital Hotel on Friday and Saturday, July 29 and 30.

The symposium saw 21 expert panel speakers attend the symposium and included a live venomous snake display, live handling demonstrations and airway and snakebite management simulations.

Sponsored by the Gift of the Givers Foundation, the symposium’s main focus is to bring the best current snakebite management to emergency services, departments and intrahospital care in South Africa, with particular attention to get better snakebite management to rural areas in Mpumalanga and the eastern parts of the country.

In a statement by Gift of the Givers ahead of the symposium, it said the World Health Organisation (WHO) now recognises snakebites as a neglected tropical disease, making it a priority.

“There is an opportunity to assess this health crisis and to adapt policy and regulation to develop and implement novel therapies that will make treatment significantly better with the best patient outcomes,” said the statement.

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“The WHO’s snakebite envenoming strategy is to reduce death and disability by 50% by 2030. Snakebites tend to disproportionately impact the world’s poorest and least empowered people.”

The statement also said that incidents tend to occur in rural and farming communities, where adequate facilities and skills are usually lacking.

“The South African snakebite initiative was born out of the desire by a group of expert medical professionals to help make safe, effective and accessible snakebite treatments a reality,” said Gift of the Givers.

Lowveld Venom Suppliers’ director, Chris Hobkirk, said they had amazing feedback regarding the symposium and that stakeholders and visitors were able to network.

“It was a fantastic success,” he said.